IN MEMOPvIAM 



$ 



ADDRESS OF 

HON. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW 

OF NEW YORK 

upon the i.ife and 
ciiajBACter of 

HON. EDMUND W. PETTUS 

(LATE A SENATOR FROM THE 
STATE OF ALABAMA) 



DELIVERED IN THE SENATE 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 1908 



4^ 



WASH I NO TON 

li)08 
42169— 774S 



P4GU4 



ADDRESS 

OF 

IIOX. CIIAUNCEY M. DEPEW, 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES ON THE LATE SENATORS FROM ALABAMA. 

Jlr. BANKHEAD. Mr. Presideut, I offer the resolutions 
which I send to the desk. 
The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows : 

licsolvcd, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the 
death of the lions. John T. Mokgan and Ed.muad W. Pettus, late 
Senators from the State of Alabama. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of tlie deceased 
Senators, the business of tSe Senate be now suspended to enable their 
associates to pay proper tribute to their high characters and dis- 
tinguished public service. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these resolu- 
tions to the House of Representatives. 

The VICE-PEESIDEXT. The question is an agreeing to the 
resolutions. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to. 

Mr. DEPEW. Mr. President, when a man dies in youth or 
in his prime with years of usefulness before him, the sentiment 
is grief or despair. Every year which one enjoys in health and 
the full possession of all his faculties beyond the Psalmist's 
limit of life is a source of gratitude. If he is still at fourscore 
in the forefront of the battle when the sunnuons comes, the 
event elicits reminiscence, record and applause. 

Alabama, through her two .venerable and great Senators, 
Morgan and Pettus, had in this body a unique distinction. 
These two representatives, or as they might be called, am- 
bassadors of a sovereign State, one S3 and the other 86, and by 
reason of their ability and power destined to reelection 
which would carry them both toward their century, pre- 
sent a picture which has no imvaliel in our history. Senator 
MoiifjAX was in the front rank of tlie statesmen of the Republic. 
2 421G0 — 77-18 



His great ability, vast acquirements, profound ovudllinn, in- 
domitable industrj', self-sacrificing devotion to tliL- public wel- 
fare and rare elequence have placed him in a niclie of tlio 
temple of American fame. He possessed an almost unequaled 
command of English pure and undefiled, and in giving utter- 
ance to bis tbougbt it was done with such correct expression 
that after a running debate in which he took a principal part 
and which would last a day, his sentences were so perfect that 
his speech required neither review nor correction. IMore than 
any other of our statesmen he resembled the great English 
writer and orator, Edmund Burke. His colleague, Senator 
Pettus, was a good lawyer and an able judge, but preeminently, 
in all his characteristics, the soldier. The friendship and in- 
terdependence of these associate representatives of Alabama 
upon each other and their daily intercourse was one of the most 
interesting and attractive pictures in the Senate. The General 
followed with awe and admiration the lead of the veteran and 
distinguished Senator, and the slender and fragile Senator 
seemed to lean with reverential regard upon the vigorous, ag- 
gressive and gigantic General, but at the moment when their 
State seemed unanimously resolved to keep them here without 
limit as to time the summons came to both, and they died as 
they had lived, neighbors and friends, possessing to the last the 
full vigor of their physical and mental powers. 

Such an event inspires many reflections upon youth and age. 
The tribute of the world is given wholly to youth. Its admira- 
tion is for early achievement. It is apt to dismiss age or be 
impatient that it lingers upon the stage. I remember a dis- 
tinguished English statesman remarking to me with disappoint- 
ment and disgust after Mr. Gladstone's Midlothian campaign 
had electrified the country, " There is no use waiting for old 
men to die. After seventy they go on forever." The brightest 
pages of history, the most brilliant passages in oratory and the 
highest flights of rhetorical expression are devoted to the 
achievements of px'ecocious genius. In our day everything is 
subjected to the merciless analysis of science and research. The 
most valued traditions of childhood are shattered by the cold 
421G9— 7T48 



processes of historical delving. William Tell becomes a myth 
and Arnold Winkclreid an exaggerated tradition. By the same 
bloodless dissection alienists and phj'siologists are now endeav- 
oring to prove that in the formation and growth of the brain 
an unnatural and unhealthy early development tends either to 
degeneracy or, in rare instances, where there is great natural 
power, to extraordinary and morbid maturity In infancy and 
youth. It is the inspiration and despair of the schools that 
Alexander the Great was a wise ruler at 18 and conquered 
all Greece at 20. At 2G he wept because there were no more 
worlds to conquer and died at 30. His achievements and his 
tragic death were alike due to an abnormal brain which 
made him meet the characterization of Pope, "The youth 
who all things but himself subdued." In this he stands in 
marked contrast with Ciesar, who matured more slowly and 
naturally, and was at the zenith of his powers when assassi- 
nated at 5G, and of whom Pope also said, " Cfcsar was the 
world's great master and his own." Hannibal was in sight of 
the fulfillment of the vow to his father of the destruction of 
Eome when he was 31, but then his genius seemed to de- 
cay. Napoleon had reached the zenith of his powers at 35 and 
at Waterloo was the victim of premature senility. Byron's 
genius began to fade in his early thirties, and he died before he 
was 40. Pitt was prime minister at 25, and the maturity of his 
gifts was under 40. Goethe, the great German genius, and one 
of the greatest the world ever saw, on the other hand, grew nor- 
mally to maturity and was no exception to nature's laws. The 
work which gave him universal recognition, " Iphigenia," was 
written when he was 37, but his immortality is largely based 
upon " Faust," which was published when he was 55. He lived 
without any abatement of mind until he was S3. Thiers, having 
accomplished a world of literary work and done much political 
service, saved France from total dismemberment at 71 and re- 
mained three years after in the presidency to consolidate his 
work. Von Moltke at 71 had become one of the most famous gen- 
orals of the centuries, while Bisn)arck late in life consolidated 
the (;<'rnian pemile into one Empire under the great sovereign 
421U'J— 77J8 



who wielded the scepter vigorously until past 90. Gladstone'8 
most triumphant campaign, and one of the most remarkable la 
English history, was won by a stumping tour of unequaled 
rigor and versatility when he was 84. The dead line of {50, 
which had been the rule of the past, no longer exists in our day. 
Shakespeare divided life into seven ages. 

At first the infant, 
JlewHng and puking In the nurse's arms. 
Tlien the whining school-hoy, with his satchel 
And shining morning face, creeping lilje snail 
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, 
Sighing lilvC furnace, with a woeful ballad 
Made to his mistress' eyehrow. Then a soldier, 
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, 
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel. 
Seeking the bubble reputation 
. Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the Justice, 
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd, 
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, 
Full of wise saws and modern instances ; 
So he plays his part. The sixth age shifts 
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, 
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side, 
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide 
For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice, 
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes 
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all. 
That ends this strange, eventful history, 
Is second childishness and mere oblivion, 
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything. 

But Shakespeare died at 50. 

Mr. President, we have only to look about this Senate to note 
the marvelous difference between Shakespeare's period and our 
own. It was then the survival of the fittest who possessed the 
vigor of constitution and strength which could resist the pes- 
tilence, plague, and disease common to the unsanitary conditions 
of the home, uucleanliness of the person, and wild excesses and 
intemperance of the times. According to Shakespeare's view, 
" the lean and slipper'd pantaloon " came between 50 and 60, and 
second childhood, " Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every- 
thing," between CO and 70. But in our day the leaders in the 
professions, the captains of industry, and the controlling minds 
in public life are largely these who look with equanimity uix>u 
throe score and ten. 
421G9— 7748 



6 

Tho life of Senator Tettus is one of those American careers 
wblcli are the perennial inspirations of our youth. Equipped 
with a vigorous constitution and a good education as his only 
capital, he began the battle of life with an optimistic cheerful- 
ness and indomitable perseverance which were his character- 
istics for the succeeding sixty-five years. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1S42, and was in the active practice of his profession, 
except when on the bench or in wars, for sixty-four years. He 
early won the favor of a large constituency, and two years 
after his admission to the bar, at the age of 23, was elected 
solicitor for the seventh circuit of Alabama. Heredity is 
either the curse or the blessing of us all. The dominant char- 
acteristic in the blood may skip several generations to ulti- 
mately assert itself with double force. It was the grand- 
father, who was a soldier of the Eevolution, whose militant and 
virile spirit was reincarnated in his grandson. The call to arms 
in the Mexican war drew him instantly from the brilliant ca- 
reer upon which he had entered in legal and political life and he 
marched to Mexico as a lieutenant of an Alabama company. 
The stirring experiences of that campaign, with its battles and 
marches, its assaults and victories, were exquisite happiness to 
the young and enthusiastic soldier. 

He returned from the war at the time when the country was 
excited, as it had never been before, by the gold discoveries in 
California. The romance and perils of the West appealed over- 
whelmingly to this adventurous spirit. That he did not have 
the money for this expensive trip was no obstacle to a man 
to whom obstacles were invitations. He started on horseback 
and found his way across the Great Plains of the AVest when 
its trails were infested by bands of hostile Indians. When he 
arrived the situation did not interest him. His was not the 
nature to endure hardships and the wild life of a mining camp 
of that period simply for gold. Glory was his ambition, gold 
only of value so far as it niiglit liflp him to attain that end. 
The voyages and marches of tho Forty-niners are a pictur- 
esque chapter in the story of the settlement and dovelopnient 
of our Territories. They were practical Argonauts, whoso 
42109—7718 



search liad its reward for some in fortunes greater than were 
possible to tlie seekers of tlie Golden Fleece, but for most of 
tliem bitter disappointment and unniarlced gra^-es. Tbe sordid 
side of these early struggles on the golden coast repelled this 
chivalric knight and we find him soon returned to renewed 
activities at the bar and in the public life of his State. lie had 
been brought up in the strictest school of State rights. The 
resolutions of 17S9 were his political gospel and John C. Calhoun 
his political guide. One of his last acts in the Senate was to 
vote against the railroad rate bill, notwithstanding the public 
sentiment in its favor, because he believed that it violated in 
principle his fundamental beliefs in the rights and sovereignty 
of the States, He was among the earliest to enlist for the war 
in the Confederate army, and believed as thoroughly in the 
righteousness of his cause as did his patriot grandfather in that 
of the Revolution. 

His commanding figure made him an ideal soldier. He was 
elected a major of his regiment, but his gallantry upon many 
bloody battlefields soon won him the stars of a brigadier- 
general. His impetuosity and daring made him a prisoner 
of war, but he received the consideration of his captors which 
gallant soldiers always pay to heroic enemies against whom 
have gone the fortunes of the fight. The civil war ended, 
he again resumed the activities of peace. Having vigorously 
and conscientiously done the work of his laborious profession 
and accepted many honors from his fellow-citizens, he thought 
that at 75 he would like to retire to the dignity and con- 
genial duties of a Federal judge, with its permanency of of- 
fice, securing the pleasures of comfortable and serene old age, 
but he was told he was too old. This stirred the soldier to 
conflict, and with the answer, " If I am too old to be a judge, 
I am young enough to be a United States Senator," he entered 
a contest before the people for the place. He broke down all op- 
position and captured the imagination and support of the people, 
and at 7G was triumphantly elected Senator of the United 
States from the State of Alabama. When the time for his 
reelection came, he was S3 years of age, but there was no oppo- 

42109— 774S 



sition, and liis triumph was complete. It was oue of his most 
gVatifying recollections that his second election cost only $1, the 
legal fee for his certificate. He was reelected at the end of his 
second for a third term, which, if he had lived, would have car- 
ried him to the age of 95. There is no such record in the whole 
history of the Senate. 

I served with him on the Committee on the Judiciary. He 
never missed a meeting, and his reports upon the questions re- 
ferred to him as a subcommittee were not only able and judi- 
cial, but possessed a picturesque originality and humor which 
gave them the flavor of that Elizabethan literature of which he 
had been all his life an ardent student. His humor was resist- 
less, and we all remember the occasions when the driest debate 
was suddenly lifted into life and his side enormously helped by 
the ripple of laughter which disturbed this august assemblage at 
one of his sallies. As impregnable were his opinions, so un- 
shakable were his friendships, and he would make any sacri- 
fice to aid or defend those whom he loved. 

Side by side in the old churchyard in the village of Selma 
lie these great statesmen of Alabama, not of Alabama alone, 
but of the United States. As the years go by that will become 
sacred ground and a mecca for the youth of the South who 
would get inspiration for great careers in the civil or military 
life of their country. The Senators who were privileged to serve 
with Morgan and Pettus unite in paying to their memories the 
deepest and teuderest tributes of respect and admiration. Long 
after we are gone, among the cherished traditions of this body 
will bo the recollection of the lives, the genius, the work, and the 
picturesque personality and orighiality of these historical figures 
fighting back death and serving their country when past four- 
score years, and dying, as they had lived, together. 
421G9— 7748 

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